Misunderstanding
by Purple Dolphin1969
Summary: Pictures can be deceiving. Written for the 10 prompts community at LJ


bTitle:/b Misunderstanding

bAuthor:/b Purple Dolphin

bFandom:/b Stargate SG-1

bPrompt:/b Leaving

bCharacter/Pairing:/b Sam/Cam

bRating:/b PG-13 Just to be on the safe side

bWord Count:/b 2909

bSummary:/b Pictures can be deceiving.

bAuthors Notes/Disclaimer:/b I did not harm a beta, all mistakes are my own and I will proudly own them but, I don't own Stargate, it really is too bad too. I just take them out and play with them for awhile.

Cam stood in the middle of the living room, bag in hand. He knew he was taking the easy way out, or was he really? He just couldn't face her at the moment. He really couldn't get his mind around it yet, but he was leaving. Looking around, at really the only place he ever felt was home, his eyes landed on the pictures on the mantel. There in a line were what she had said were the most important pictures to her, her brother's family, one of her and her dad, one of SG-1 when they first started on missions and then another one that had Vala and him in it. One of Cassie, then his eyes rested on a picture of them. Picking it up he looked at the faces staring back at him, they looked so happy. It was taken about six months ago off world, Vala had started taking pictures of everything and she snapped one of them as they sat around camp early in the evening. He didn't remember the story that one of them had told, but he put his arm around Sam and they were both laughing.

He went to set the picture back in its place, when all of a sudden he turned it and slammed it against the mantel. Turning it back over he thought how strange it was, it looked just how he felt, shattered.

He walked over and laid his key by her phone, no he wouldn't need it anymore. Picking up his bag he walked out of the house and drove away.

He couldn't go back to his place yet, he drove out of the city found an open road and just kept driving. His mind wondered back to last night and the events that led him to now.

The mission had been a grueling one, not in the physical sense but mentally. A few times he just wanted to walk away, let the people on this planet figure it out for themselves. He had never heard people bicker over such trivial crap as he had this last week, it didn't help that the rotation of the planet was not the same as Earth and the nights were shorter and days longer. That meant that none of them had been getting the sleep they should have been getting. To him it was compounded by the fact that Sam had to be in Washington to brief the joint chiefs on a new race they had encountered.

When they finally got to leave Cam was never so happy at going home, albeit, worn out. He just had one thought that came to mind, he wanted to see Sam. After the usual exam, he showered, then left the base. The briefing was not going to be until later today. His only thought was getting home, but not his place, home to him now was Sam.

He looked at his watch as he pulled into her driveway; he knew she had been back from DC for a few days. It was 0230; he didn't want to wake her so he pulled her key out and let himself in. He slipped off his shoes then walked to her bedroom, as he got closer he heard noises coming from the room. The closer he got the clearer they became, when it finally hit him. The door was cracked open and he looked in seeing the image that he thought he would never get out of his head again.

He saw first just the back of a man and a tuff of blonde hair, then he saw the profile of the man and his mouth dropped open. It was General O'Neill, his heart broke in that instant. He turned and walked back down the hall picked up his shoes and left.

He drove around the city; at three in the morning there was no traffic to speak of. He wondered how many of those trips she had to make to DC were really for the SGC and how many were…. He couldn't finish the thought, she had told him that yes at one time she had wanted to be with Jack; she thought that she loved him. He had heard the rumors around the SGC; she told him none of them were true. He had believed her when she said that she knew she loved him, that is was not the same as the infatuation she had had for her former CO.

******

Sam woke up on Cam's couch, she had waited up for him to come home but he never did. She thought that maybe he was just too tired and slept at his quarters on base. She dressed and left for work. She would see him there anyway, it just wouldn't be the same but as long as she saw him it was all the same to her.

She found out that Cam had come back last night and left the base, what she couldn't figure out was why he never came home. Trying to concentrate on the device in front of her was just not taking her mind off it, she had tried calling him several times but only got his answering machine at home and his voice mail on his cell.

Daniel came by to tell the briefing for 1300 was canceled until tomorrow because Cam had called in sick; actually he had called Daniel and told him that he was sick, and yes he was sure it was nothing he brought back from the planet.

"I am kind of surprised, he seemed fine last night. I kind of got the impression that he couldn't wait to get home when he left." Daniel told Sam, he knew something was up just not what. He knew that Sam and Cam had been seeing each other outside of work for months now.

"He never came home last night; I was at his place all night." Sam said.

"I have no idea, I told the General that I thought he was just overly tired from this last week with the time difference." Daniel wanted to say that he thought it was more than that, but he just couldn't imagine what.

"I have been trying to call him, I keep getting answering machines." Sam said.

"Well since there isn't going to be a briefing, why don't you leave early and go check on him." Daniel turned to leave when another thought hit him, turning back around he asked. "Oh did it work?"

Sam didn't have to ask what, she knew. "Like a charm I guess, I hope it did anyway. When General O'Neill called me this morning he was in a really good mood."

"I hope it did, he deserves some happiness in his life."

Sam went by Cam's apartment, but he wasn't there. She went home to see if maybe he was there. She walked to her answering machine and reached for the play button when the key on the counter caught her eye. She knew the second she saw it that it was the one she gave Cam, when she had it cut for him she did something unlike her and got one that had hearts printed on it. She wondered if he had forgotten it, but she didn't remember seeing it yesterday when she was here.

She tried calling him again, when there was still no answer she changed clothes and grabbed a rag to start dusting, maybe a little housework would take her mind off that Cam seemed to be out of contact to her.

She had reached the mantel when she saw the picture of Cam and her with the glass and frame broken; she reached for it and walked to the trash can to dump the glass. For some reason the moment she tipped it over it all clicked in her brain, the key, the broken glass in their picture. He didn't come home last night because he came here, she reached for the phone. She didn't know who to call first; she thought maybe she needed to find out what actually happen here last night. She dialed the General's number first, but when there was no answer she call Sara.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sara, I have a question and I am really not trying to be nosy but what exactly went on here last night." Sam had to know if Cam had walked in on them.

Sara knew that Sam had been seeing someone and that they were trying to keep it quiet so she walked into the other room so Jack wouldn't want to ask questions that she didn't want to lie to him about. "Hey Sam, we put everything back didn't we?" she asked.

"It's not that, it's not even that I care what you did."

"What's wrong?" Sara asked able to tell something was up.

"I…" Sam didn't know how much to say, Sara knew that she was seeing Cam but she had promised her that she would never tell. She didn't like the frat regs anyway. "I think he came to my house last night and didn't know that you all were borrowing it for the night."

Sara didn't have to ask who the he was, she knew. "Oh." After a short pause she said, "Oh my God. I don't know what to say. Jack and I did what you are thinking we did."

"OK, just wanted to make sure that I was reading it right. And please don't worry about it, it will work out." Sam was sure of it.

"Sam, I really am sorry for this."

"Don't be sorry, it can be fixed. Gotta go, but I want to know everything the next time we talk." Sara hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen. When Jack looked up at he asked. "Problems?"

"Not for us, but Sam thinks her boyfriend came over last night and caught us together." Jack's eyes widened, "What? Why didn't he just go home, that was where she was."

"I don't know." Sara answered, "but I would bank money if they had been apart for a while he just wanted to see her. Wait, how do you know that?"

"That she was at his house? Give me a little credit, they look at each other like their starving and the other is an all you can eat buffet. I really should call Mitchell and tell him that it was you and not Sam."

"No, I think you need to let them work this out themselves. It will make their relationship stronger in the end."

******

Cam was tired of his cell phone ringing every fifteen minutes; he looked at the id even though he knew it was Sam again. He really should have left her a note at least, that way she wouldn't be calling him now.

Cam had drove around for another two hours before he realized that his phone hadn't rang for them, he stopped and called his voice mail. He listened to the last message left, "Cam listen it's not what you're thinking, call me please." Sure Cam thought as he shut the phone then threw it across the car.

A few hours later he found himself in front of her house, he didn't even know how or why. He walked up to the door and went to walk inside before he realized that he couldn't do that anymore so he knocked.

When she opened the door, Cam thought how beautiful she looked standing there in a pair of shorts and t shirt, he could almost let her lie to him. But he was hurt also and that moved him foreword. "Not interrupting anything, am I." he asked sarcastically as he walked passed her into the hall.

Sam expected this, and they were going to have to go through it if they expected to move on. "No, just reading." Well she had been trying to read but her mind wouldn't stay in the book.

Walking past her Cam said, "Well I know you said to call but I was out anyway, so what did you want?"

"Last night is not what you are…." Cam held up his hand, he couldn't listen to her try to explain it to him. "Don't, do you think I am blind? Are you really going to tell me that I didn't see you and the General doing the mattress dance last night? I have eyes."

"Pictures can be deceiving." Sam said in almost a whisper. She tried to close the gap between them when he put his hand up again saying, "I'm leaving." He tried to walk around her but she stood in his way. "I really think you need to listen to me Cameron."

Cam looked up at the ceiling, he didn't want to hear her try and explain it away. If he did he might just convince himself it was true and stay. "No I don't, I know what I saw."

"What you _think_ you saw, why didn't you come home last night?" Sam asked. She watched him drag his hands across his face then look at her, "I did come home last night, to you. I wanted to see you, I saw."

Something told Sam that Cam came here but not because he thought of her place or his as home, but her. "What you thought you saw and what was really happening are two different things."

"Christ Sam, don't. I have heard all the rumors at the SGC, hell you have even told me that you wanted the man. I was just too blind to see that you still did."

Sam was trying very hard to keep a lid on her temper, she hated that he thought that way. "It would be hard for me to be in two places at once, I was at your place waiting for you to come home."

He wanted to believe her, with all his heart he did. "Yeah, if that's what you want to tell me."

"How the hell would you know? You didn't come home last night." Well she was right about that, he didn't.

"Let me tell you some facts, you can go check them out if you like." She said in a tone that told him if he did she would never speak to him again. "Daniel and I have been trying for over a year to get General O'Neill back with his ex-wife, the last couple of days he has been in town. He had been taking her out but wanted to cook for her, so I let him use my house because I knew that I could stay at yours. Of course I never told him the real reason I wanted to be there, he knew that you were on a mission so your place was empty. Another fact you can check that I was there, I spent over an hour talking to Mrs. Cooper last evening. Go if you want, check my story out if you want. But maybe you're right, maybe we should rethink us."

She walked pass him to the kitchen, Cam stared after her, then he walked to the door. Pausing with his hand on the knob he knew what she was saying, this was the moment of truth when it came to trusting each other with their hearts.

He walked into the kitchen; guilt knifed him in the chest. She looked so defeated at the moment and he had done that to her. She had been right, not about what happen but that he needed to learn to trust her, that was not true he did trust her. He walked over to her; putting his finger under her chin he raised her head so he could look into her eyes so she would know that he was telling the truth. "I don't need to check your story out; I trust that you are telling me the truth. It was just…." He trailed off to catch his breath, he didn't know if he would be able to do this or not, "painful to see."

"I can look at it from your point of view; I can see how you thought that it was me. Especially with all the rumors around the SGC, but I would never do that to you. I am with you." She didn't add that he was all she wanted.

Cam felt in his pocket, he didn't know at the time why he had put the ring in there before he left last week, but now he was glad he did. Whether it was the perfect way to ask or not he didn't care anymore, he just wanted her to his always. Getting down on one knee he said. "Samantha Carter, you are my home. Where ever you are that is where my home is, would you do me the honor of letting me come home to you forever?"

Sam looked at the ring in his hand, then into his eyes. With tears gathering in her eyes she nodded at him, "Is that a yes?" he asked as he started to rise. "Yes I want you to come home to me forever."

He slipped the ring on her finger, then placing both hands on her head he pulled her to him, kissing her. When they broke the kiss he placed his forehead on her saying, "No I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon."


End file.
